Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a wide-ranging executive order Saturday that includes banning law enforcement from wearing masks in Chicago and requiring them at all times to display what agency they work for, in his latest effort to counter President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats of sweeping federal immigration raids and even a potential occupation of the city by federal forces.

While extensive, the “Protecting Chicago” initiative was also a tacit acknowledgment that the mayor and city cannot stop any White House efforts to follow through on Trump’s threats on the nation’s third-largest city.

Still, Johnson, at a City Hall news conference, maintained the order allows his Law Department to “pursue any and every legal mechanism to hold this administration accountable.”

“I do not take this executive action lightly,” Johnson told reporters. “But unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government.”

Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker have both repeatedly said that they have not received any formal notification from the Trump administration regarding the details of the alleged incursion. When asked later what “credible reports” the Johnson administration has received, mayoral spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said the city has “sources inside the administration but we don’t want to say more than that.” Mendoza also stated that the sources confirm reports about an imminent federal surge in the national and local press.

Mayor Brandon Johnson holds a signed executive order titled, “Protecting Chicago,” in response to the possible local deployment of federal military and Department of Homeland Security personnel in the coming days, at City Hall Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

The mayor’s executive order states that: “In Chicago, law enforcement cannot wear any mask, covering, or disguise” while on duty and that those law enforcement officers must activate their body cameras at all times when interacting with the public. Officers or armed forces must also display their federal agency, last name and badge number or rank “in a clearly visible fashion.”

Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents have routinely, in Chicago and across the nation, worn masks and not thoroughly identified themselves as they have detained and arrested people the agency says are in the country illegally. Federal officials have defended the officers wearing masks and not identifying themselves as a way to ensure their safety and prevent the public release of their personal information and that of their family members.

The Chicago Police Department already adheres to such directives, but Johnson’s order requires federal agents or U.S. Armed Forces to follow the order as well. However, the effectiveness of the executive order remains to be seen, and Johnson was unclear about what recourse the city would have in real-time if federal agents, troops, or law enforcement flouted the order. The mayor did suggest the city could sue the federal government if federal personnel did not follow the order.

“We will use every single tool that is at our disposal, and that includes the courts,” Johnson said. “It’s an area which at least there’s some semblance of check and balance in this country.”

The executive action comes after a week of threats from the White House that Chicago is Trump’s next target for a federal crackdown after about 2,000 National Guard members were deployed in Washington, D.C. The president’s hostile, but at times confusing, remarks over the last several days have put the city on edge as leaders condemned the plan as unnecessary and dangerous.

Johnson has highlighted that so far this year, homicides are down 32%, and charged that Trump is hurting anti-violence efforts by cutting the city’s federal grants for street outreach programs. But with the president’s sights apparently set on making an example out of Chicago next, local leaders’ options to fight back are limited.

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that preparations were underway for an immigration crackdown in Chicago, amid reports stating it could commence as soon as next week, with agents and other personnel being headquartered at the Naval Base Great Lakes in North Chicago, about 37 miles north of Chicago’s downtown.

“Quite frankly, the reason why this executive order is so paramount is because even though we know that this President is behaving outside of the bounds of the Constitution, it hasn’t stopped him, but it stops in Chicago,” Johnson told reporters while standing before a phalanx of progressive aldermen at City Hall.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/30/mayor-brandon-johnson-executive-order-federal-crackdown/